Dr. Neville Edward Alexander
Censorship as Intellectual Terrorism: White Spots in Black South African History, or the Worm Inside the Liberation Struggle
October 7, 1991
Read Lecture Program (PDF file)
Dr. Neville Edward Alexander holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in German philology and history from the University of Cape Town and a PhD in German philology from the University of Tübingen. He has taught German, history, and sociology in Cape Town, and has tutored, lectured, and organized projects for the South African Committee for Higher Education (SACHED).
From 1963 to 1974 he was incarcerated on Robben Island, where he occupied himself with teaching and other educational tasks, and from 1974 to 1979 he was under house arrest in Lotus River, Cape Town.
Dr. Alexander is executive secretary to the Health, Education, and Welfare Society of South Africa (HEWSSA) Trust in Cape Town and has held various research and teaching positions in South Africa, Germany, and the United States. Active in numerous community, civic, labor, and political organizations, he is currently chairperson of the Worker’s Organization for Socialist Action(WOSA). Dr. Alexander’s publications deal with literature, language policy, African history, and South African education and politics. His most recent book is Education and the Struggle for National Liberation in South Africa , a collection of essays and speeches.
Although Dr. Alexander focuses on South Africa in his Mortenson lecture, his topic and concerns are applicable far beyond that country. The complex issues he discusses here are reflected in the interplay between politics and intellectual freedom everywhere.